The following is a list of recent resources for those focused on the professional improvement of teachers, principals, and other educational leaders.

A Leak in the Pipeline: How Hiring Bias Might Be Compounding the Teacher Shortage This report aims to increase understanding of where teacher recruiting and hiring practices may be falling short. The analysis suggests that certain biases in the hiring process may contribute to the nation’s $2.2 billion annual teacher turnover problem – often cited by states and districts as a contributor to teacher shortages. (Frontline Research and Learning Institute)

Prioritizing Leadership: An Analysis of State ESSA PlansOverall, the plans demonstrate that many states recognize the critical role principals and other school leaders play in creating schools where teachers and students thrive, together. Analyzers are pleased to see that every single state has committed to directing some portion of its federal funding into investments in leadership – from teacher leaders to principals and superintendents.

Teach For America Rural seeking non-TFA members for 2018 for their Rural School Leadership Academy (RLSA) In rural regions across the country, there is a strong demand for committed, effective school leaders. To respond to this need, Teach For America created the Rural School Leadership Academy (RSLA) in 2013. After four years of growing and developing RSLA with TFA corps members and alumni, we will be expanding the program to non-TFA members in 2018.

Progress and Promise: Chicago’s Nation-Leading Educational Gains The report details the research and begins to unpack some of the work driving the gains. Prominent researchers, policymakers and practitioners point to the district’s focus on teacher and principal effectiveness, the dedication to using data/research to drive practice, and the push to keep freshman on track to graduate as a few of the drivers. The new report also offers some suggestions on how to keep the momentum going and potentially speed it up.

Improving Job Standards and Hiring Pays Off Hear how these two affordable components of the Principal Pipeline can produce benefits for districts and schools in this podcast.

Impact of a Checklist on Principal-Teacher Feedback Conferences Following Classroom Observations This report presents findings from a statewide experiment in school year 2015-16 to test impacts of a checklist on the feedback conferences principals had with teachers after formal classroom observations. The overall usage of the feedback checklist was moderate, with about three-quarters of principals who were encouraged to use the checklist reporting that they saw it, and 58% reported using it in post-observation feedback sessions with at least a few teachers. (Southwest Regional Educational Laboratory at SEDL)

Check Out PERA Coach Virtual Newsletters ISBE and the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council publishes Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Coach Virtual Newsletters in an effort to provide schools and districts with continual guidance and information on PERA, including resources and best practices. Issues date back to October 2015 and are published as new information becomes available. View all issues of the PERA Coach Virtual Newsletter on ISBE’s Educator Evaluations webpage.

Join Cohort 4 of Foundations Of Principal SupervisionTransform the way you supervise principals. Foundations of Principal Supervision is a yearlong program designed to leverage the principal supervisor role to better support principals on behalf of schools and students.